Constructional toy



' Oct.-27, 1959 w. J. HOBSON CONSTRUCTIONAL TOY Filed Feb. 27, 1956W/W/bm J Hob 50/7 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent oCONSTRUCTIONAL TOY William J. Hobson, Dallas, Tex.

Application February 27, 1956, Serial No. 567,912

Claims. (Cl. 46-29) This invention relates to constructional toys andmore particularly to improvements in the means by which the elements ofa construction set are joined together.

The principal object of the invention is to obviate the need for nuts,bolts, screws and other loose fastening devices for the parts of ,aconstructional toy and replace these easily lost or misplaced fastenersby simulated beams, girders, gussets and the like, designed withmatching dimples in the ends of the beams and in sockets in the gussetsreceiving the shaped ends of the beams, holding the elements of aframe-Work fabricated from the constructional toy in rigid relationship.

Another object of the invention is to provide a constructional toy inwhich the ends of the beams and the sockets in the gussets receiving thesame are conformably shaped in such manner as to preclude oscillation orrotation about the cooperative dimples jointly formed in these membersor, in other words, to prevent other than longitudinal displacement ofthe beams once in place in their respective sockets in the gussets.

Other objects will become manifest as the description proceeds whenconsidered with the accompanying drawmg:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of any arbitrary structureshowing the relationship of parts in assembly.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a center .gusset constructed accordingto the invention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a corner gusset, showing a beam endabout to be inserted in a socket of the gusset.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a gusset and beam fragmentarily shown ininterlocked relationship.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of the gussetand showing a beam end about to be received in one of its sockets.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 5 and Fig. 7 is afurther modified form of gusset showing a beam end about to be fastenedthereto.

Continuing with a more detailed description of the drawing, reference isprimarily made to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, wherein numeral 10 denotesgenerally a center gusset, numeral 11, a corner gusset, and numeral 12,an angle gusset. Numeral 13 generally refers to angle beams, whilenumeral 14 denotes generally the channel beams which may also bereferred to in the specification and claims as elongate connectingmembers or elements.

The several gussets shown in Figs. 1 to 4 dilfer only in shape andadaptation. The center gusset 10 consists of a plate 15 which isdie-cast or otherwise formed to define recesses 16 which, as apparent inFig. 2, have parallel sides a-a nearest the perimeter of the preferablypolygonal gusset 10 which converge at bb into more closely spacedparallel sides c-c. The sides aa match the edges a'a of the end 17 of abeam 14 which converges at b'b' to match the convergent portions bb ofthe socket or recess 16. The tip 18 of the end 17 of the beam 14 hasstraight parallel sides cc to match the parallel sides cc of the recess16.

A cover plate 19 overlies the recesses 16 in the plate 15 and is aifixedthereto as by spot welding at 20. The cover plate 19 is formed with adepression or concave-convex dimple 21 which registers with the centerof each recess 16 midway between the sides aa. These dimples match withlike dimples 22 formed in the end 17 of each beam 14 and are recessedtherein when the end 17 is thrust into a recess 16.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the end 17 of the beam 14 issupported against lateral displacement or rotative movement about thedimples 21-22 by the parallel sides a-a and cc of the sockets 16, theconvergent sides bb serving to guide the tip 18 of the beam into thereduced portion of the socket defined by the sides c-c thereof.

The beams or girders 14 are held in position in the corner gussets 11and angle gussets 12 in identically the same manner as described for theholding relationship between the beams and gussets 10, hence thedescription will not be repeated. However, while there is closesimilarity between the manner of attaching the beams 14 and gussets 10,and that used for attaching the angle beams 13 and corner and anglegussets 11 and 12, it is noted in Fig. 3 that the end 23 of a corner orangle beam 13 is right-angular to conform to the right-angular shape ofan angle gusset 12. This is true also of the relationship between thebeams 13 and the corner gussets 11. The angles of the ends 23 of thebeams 13 have dimples 24 which match dimples 25 in the corner plate 26which is spot Welded as at 27 to a thicker base plate 28 in which isformed the several radial sockets or recesses 29.

In Figs. 5 and 6, is shown another form of gusset plate, the soledifference being that the thin plate 30 is preformed with sockets 31having dimples 32 which match with like dimples 33 in the end 34 of abeam or girder 35. The end 34 of the beam is shaped to correspond withthe sockets 31 in a manner identical to the beam ends and sockets abovedescribed and shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and is recessed between the plate 30and the base plate 30a to which the plate 30 is secured as by welding at31a.

A further modification of the invention is shown in Fig. 7 wherein anangle gusset 50 is revealed for purposes of illustration, it beingunderstood that corner gussets and center gussets have identical meansthereon for hold ing the beams 51 securely in relation to the gussets.The particular means shown in Fig. 6 for this purpose consists of aspider 52 of spring steel secured by welding or by rivets d to a baseplate 52a, and having a series of legs or tongues 53, one in registerwith each side of the polygonal plate 50 to receive an end of a channelshaped beam 54 and hold the same firmly against other than longitudinaldisplacement, the spring tongues 53 being substantially equal in widthto the space between the side flanges of the channel shaped beams 54.

The corner or angle beams 51 are held by downward pressure on theirflanges 55 against the base plate 52a by the spring tongues carried bythe angles of the gusset 50.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of somemodification and such modification as may be construed to fall withinthe scope and meaning of the appended claims is also considered to bewithin the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a construction toy, the combination of a plurality of elongatedelements, channel shaped in transverse section, having substantiallyflat tongues extending longitudinally beyond the adjacent ends of theirside flanges,

and a connecting element comprising a pair of substantially flat,polygonal plates secured by spot Welding in juxtaposed relation to eachother, one of the plates being cornparatively rigid and the oppositeplate being relatively thin and characterized by its resilience, one ofthe plates having a plurality of depressions therein facing the opposite plate, the depressions forming sockets extending inwardly fromthe sides of the plates, the tongues of the elongated elements beingselectively receivable in the sockets and conforming to the shapethereof, the thin, resilient plate having a plurality of concave-convexdimples therein opposite the respective sockets and the tongues of theelongated elements having corresponding dimples therein, the dimples ofthe plate being adapted to yieldably and frictionally engage the dimplesof the tongues to secure the tongues against longitudinal displacementrelative to the sockets.

2. The structure of claim 1, the depressions being formed in the rigidplate.

3. The structure of claim 1, the depressions being formed in the thin,resilient plate.

4. The structure of claim 1, the sockets being perpendicular to therespective sides of the plates and each having an open ended outerportion with parallel sides,

a narrower inner portion with parallel sides, and an intermediateportion Whose sides converge from the outer to the inner portions of thesocket.

5. The structure of claim 1, the opposed plates comprising theconnecting elernent being folded substantially at right angles along amedian line bisecting two opposite sides of the plates, the socketscommunicating with said opposite sides being right angular in transversesection, and a plurality of elongated elements, right angular intransverse section, having end portions selectively receivable in theright angular sockets and conforming to the shape thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,212,700 Smith Jan. 16, 1917 1,667,256 Herrschaft Apr. 24, 19282,063,895 Mack Dec. 15, 1936 2,218,175 Mack Oct. 15, 1940 2,443,249Jackson June 15, 1948 2,715,537 Hofheimer Aug. 16, 1955 2,765,581 AdlerOct. 9, 1956 2,780,484 Frye Feb. 5, 1957

